Improvement in submarine explosive projectiles



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. D. WILLOUGHBY.

Marine Torpedo.

No. 41,112. Patented Jan. 5, 1864.

Witnesses 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. D. WILLOUGHBY.

Marine Torpedo.

Patented Jan. 5, 1864.

IIH

NlTED STATES JAMES D. WILLOUGHBY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUBMARINE EXPLOSIVE PROJEQTILES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41 ll,ll I12, datedJanuary 5, 1864.

To all whom it may concern v I Be it known that 1, JAMES D. WiLLoUeHnY,of Washington city, in the county of \Vashington and District ofColumbia, have invented a new Traveling Torpedo; and I do hereby declarethat the following isa full, clear, andexact description thereof,reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which Figure l is a top view of the buoy and torpedo.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through Fig.1, taken in the planeindicated by the red line a: w thereon. Fig. 3 is a rear end elevationof Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a top view of the payingout apparatus, and Fig. 5is a vertical section through the same. Fig. 6, Sheet 2, illustrates theoperation of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveralfignres.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements in destroyingvessels at sea, in harbors, &c., where such vessels are inaccessible, orwhere it would be deemed unsafe and impracticable to attack them withthe ordinary means.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment of travelingtorpedoes, which are suspended beneath buoys or suitable floats,.

moment of contact with it, all as will be here inafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, 1 willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

111- Fig. 1, Sheet 1, of the annexed drawings 1 have represented threefloats or buoys, A A A; but in practice it may not be found necessary toemploy more than two, and in some instances one buoy will be found suf-'These buoys may be made of boiler-. iron and formed of the shape of acylinder,

ticient.

hollow inside, ilnt at the stern, and conicalor tapering upward at thebow, and they should possess suflicient floating capacity to sustain twoor three hundred poundsin the. water. Fi ...2 rc )IOSODtS about the she)e I desire to tend to keep these ends upward, for reasons"hereinaftertobeexplaincd. When threefloats,

A A A, are used, they are connected together at suitable distances apartby means of bracerods a a, and the magazine or torpedo is sus-' pendedbeneath the cent-ral'buoy, A.

The torpedo B maybe made of the same shape as the buoy A; but instead ofthe for ward end inclining downward and backward, as in the buoy, the.forward end of the torpedo inclines downward and forward, asshown inFigs. 2 and 6. The tendency of the waterupon-the torpedo will be to keepit down, which bcingcounteracted by the upward tendency of the bow ofthe buoy, the machine will glide through the water smoothly, and thetorpedo'will not in any case be tossed out of the water.

This torpedo may beconstructed of" boileriron, the size being controlledby the destructivem-s's desired of it, andit is tilled with powder orany explosive compound which will give the best results, andcommunicating with the powder in this torpedo are severalfriction-fuses, which are shown ill-Fig. 2, consistingbf tubesb-b, whichare charged with the fulnnnate of mercury, or any other one of hefulminates, and projecting into these tubesare short rods 0 c, which areconnected to a draw-rod, 0.- The fuse-rods c 0 may be serrated, so thatwhen they are moved buclv This can be done by packing the fuse-rods c cv in their tubes.

The torpedo B is secured at its rear end to r a long metal tube, 1)which is flaring at its rear end, as shown at d,Figs. 2 and (i, andwhich is curved atits forward end, as shown in Fig. 2. Both ends of thistube may be The tube. extends back in rear of t-hetor-pedo in a sti'aight I left open', or one end may be closed.

line, and it should be made of siiliicic'nt size to. support thetorpedo. This tube 1) is filled with rocket-powder of such characterasnotxto burn too rapidly nor too siowly, and

such as will burnnndcr water and, by its rcaction upon the water, willpropel the machine forward.

The tube or rocket D, carrying on its forward end the torpedo, issupported in the water ata suitable distance below its surface by thebuoys A AA above described, and this rocket-tube is connected to thebuoys by means of adjustable extension-rods EE,which are made adjustablefor the purpose of raising or lowering the torpedo and rocket withreference to the buoy, according to the size and draft of the ship to bedestroyed, and also for setting" the rocket-tube at any desired point ofinclination.

The draw-rod O, to which the right-angular fuse-rods c c are connected,has its bearings intwo pillow-blocks, ee, projecting up from the torpedoshell, and, extending back behind the forward extension-rods E, this redC is connected to the extension-rods G, which project upward,and areagain connected'to another draw-rod, H, which is supported in bearings hh under the buoy A, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings. r

The two rods 0 and H are in the same ver tical plane, and both beingconnected they move together, which movement i'gnites'the fuses andexplodes the torpedo. It is not intended'that the lower draw-rod, 0,shall come in contact with the side of avessel to be blown up unless bysome accident the torpedo is not low enough to pass under the keel ofthe vesso], in which case the explosion will take place before the rod Hstrikes the vessel, and a great deal of the force of the explosion maybe lost; but it is intended that the magazine shall be so far below thesurface of the water, and at such a distance beyond the bow of the buoy,that it will be brought directly under the keel of the vessel before theforward end of the rod H strikes the side of the vessel. Then when thisrod H strikes it will be forced back, carrying with it the rod 0 andfuse-rods a c. and exploding the torpedo.

The vertical adjustments of the torpedo and rocket are effected by meansof the extensionrods E E and extension rods G, and this adjustmentregulates the depth of the torpedo with respect to the draft of'thevessel it is desired to destroy. If it is required to adjust the torpedowith respect to the width of the vessel to be destroyed, this can bedone by using set-screws on the lower bearing ends of the extension-rodsE E for fixing the tube D- at any desired point to which it may beadjusted.

The rocket-tube B being open at both ends, and having its forward endbentbackward, it will be seen that the rocket may be ignited at eitheror both ends it found desirable. It maybe found best to ignite therocket at its forward end, in order that the force of the expelled gasesmay react upon the water directly in rear of the torpedo and as near toit as possible. In this event the forward end of the tube D will be madeflaring'instead of the rear end of this tube. The object of flaring theend of this rocket-tube is to increase the superficial area of theresisting medium against which the gaseous matter resulting from thecombustion of the rocket-powder impinges, thus increasing the impellin gforce of the rocket.

Now, in order to give direction to the buoy and rocket, and to be ableto direct the machine with some degree of precision to any desiredobject, I employ a paying-out machine, to which the buoy isconnected bymeans of two or more guide-ropes, g 9. These ropesare connected to thebuoy at its rear end, and wound upon the drums or reels J J of thepaying-out machine, (represented in Figs. 4 and 5 of thedrawings,) andthis machinebeingestablished in some convenient position on the deck ofa vessel, the buoy can be guided in its passage through the water bymeans of the fric tionbrake arms N N, which, on being applied to thehubs i i of the reels J J, will regulate the speed of-th ese reels'andtighten or slacken either one or the other of the guide-ropes g g.

It is intended to useithese traveling torpedoes at night, and the darkerthe night, so long as the position of the enemy be known, the better forsuccess,- as the approaching object willnot be seen by the enemy, whileit may be seen by those directing its course by means of a dark-lantern,L, which is arranged on top of the buoy and protected from; the water,and in guiding the machine to its destination it is only necessary tokeep this light ina line with the object to be destroyed.

The distance to which the machines maybe impelled through the water willdepend upon the capacity of the rocket-tube for containing powder andthe length of time required to consume this powder, together with thedistance to which a given amount of powder will impel the machine. Thisbeing determined, the length of guide-ropes and the distance necessaryto approach the fee is known.

Before sending these machines off it will be necessary to know with somedegree of certainty the size of the. enemies vessel, and to regulate thedepth of the torpedo below the surface of the water, so that it willpass under the keel ot' the vessel and allow the rod on the buoy tostrike the side thereof. These adjustments being made and the machineall ready, it is lowered into the water by means of davit s or othersuitable contrivances. When the guide-ropes are properly connected tothe payin gout apparatus, and the rocket ignited by means of a stringfuse suitably applied to it, the'maohine starts on itserrandofdestruction, guided and controlled in its course through thewater by a person. having hold of the brake-levers N :N. The torpedopasses under the vessel first, and then the rod H strikes the vesselsside with such force as to instantly ignite the fuse and cause theexplosion of the torpedo.

The rod H might be casually pushed back so as to cause a prematuredischarge, should it come in contact with any light floating ob sane 3ject, and to prevent this a spring may be applied to this rod in such amanner as to keep it in place until it strikes the desired object.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new,and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isv 1. The combination of buoys or floats A AA with a' torpedo or magazine of powder sus-.

pended beneath the same, and operating-substantially as and for thepurposes herein described.

2. In combination with a floating torpedo, a rocket constructed andapplied substantially as described.

3. The means, substantially as described, applied to the buoy andtorpedo for exploding the latter automatically.

4.. The adjustable extension-rods E E, or their equivalents, forsupporting the torpedo and rocket and allowing the same to be raised ordepressed,- substantially as described.

5. The combination of a traveling torpedo with a payingout apparatusconstructed for guiding the torpedo in its course through the waterwithout the interposition of a rudder,

substantially as described.

6. The combination of a dark-lantern, L, with a traveling torpedo,substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. Arranging and supporting the torpedo beneath the buoy, substantiallyas described, in such a relation therewith that the torpedo can bebrought under the keel of a vessel and there exploded, substantially asdescribed.

8 A rocket-torpedo consisting of the magazine B, fuse or fuses c c, androcket 1), constructed substantially as described.

J. D. WILLOUGHBY.

Witnesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, .ToHrrP. JAcoBs.

